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The Primary Illness Zone: Based on a growing body of peer-reviewed medical studies conducted around data centers

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140 Families live in the Primary Illness Zone

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10 Businesses operate in the Primary Illness Zone

   Baptist Village of Okmulgee

   Last Stop 

   Okmulgee Community Center

   Reliable Reggies Body Shop

   Mid-America Pallet

   Hodges Warehouse

   CP Kelco

   Arrowhead Winch (Braden)

   Coca-Cola Southwestern Bottling

   Okmulgee Wastewater Treatment Plant

 

 

For Families in the Primary Illness Zone: In the beginning, there will be a cough, and younger children and the elderly will get it first. The cough will then develop into lifelong asthma and/or COPD.

 

The younger children and elderly will begin to suffer from eye and skin irritation.  Eventually, the eye irritation will become permanent, leading to reduced vision. Skin irritation from the chemical pollution increases the likelihood of skin cancer.

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Then the older children and adults will begin coughing; at first, it will occur only when they are in the Illness Zone, but over time, the cough will become persistent. They too will develop asthma and/or COPD over time.

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The brain function or cognitive abilities of families living in the Illness Zone will begin to decline due to diesel exhaust particles, the pesticides used to keep the cooling system mold- and fungus-free, the antifreeze used to prevent the water from boiling, and the anti-corrosives used to protect the pipes from the pesticides. Anxiety, depression, learning disabilities, and violent outbursts will be common and life-long.

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For Workers in the Primary Illness Zone: At the beginning, when they go to work, they will develop a slight cough that resolves several hours after they leave work.

 

Over time, the cough will become more persistent even away from work, possibly leading to asthma and/or COPD. 

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Eye and skin irritation will begin slowly and, once it starts, will become a lifelong condition.

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Brain function or cognitive decline will happen based on how long they work in the Illness Zone; over time, this will affect all aspects of their life, from basic everyday living skills to the likelihood of violence in their home life. 

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For Gardeners in the Primary Illness Zone: The vegetables and herbs will absorb high levels of toxic chemicals, including industrial-grade pesticides and anti-corrosive agents, several different coolant blends, and diesel exhaust. Fruit trees will become permanently toxic to consume, especially for children and wildlife.

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For Families with Swimming Pools: Drinking water is treated with chlorine, which is safe to drink, but when the toxic chemicals, in the form of toxic air pollution from the data center, mix with chlorinated water in the swimming pool, the chlorine and pesticides react to form toxins that are toxic to life. 

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References:

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Alsadik, A., Akintunde, O. O., Habibi, H. R., & Achari, G. (2025). PFAS in water environments: recent progress and challenges in monitoring, toxicity, treatment technologies, and post-treatment toxicity. Environmental Systems Research, 14(1), 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40068-025-00411-9

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Alex de Vries-Gao. (2026). The carbon and water footprints of data centers and what this could mean for artificial intelligence,
Patterns. Volume 7, Issue 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2025.101430 
 

Babuji, P., Thirumalaisamy, S., Duraisamy, K., & Periyasamy, G. (2023). Human Health Risks due to Exposure to Water Pollution: A Review. Water, 15(14), 2532. https://doi.org/10.3390/w15142532

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Correia, A. A. S., & Rasteiro, M. G. (2025). A Review of Persistent Soil Contaminants: Assessment and Remediation Strategies. Environments, 12(7), 229. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments12070229

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Department of the Army. (2003). FM 8-285.Treatment of Chemical Agent Casualties and Conventional Military Chemical Injuries. 

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Deziel, N.C., Villanueva, C.M. Assessing exposure and health consequences of chemicals in drinking water in the 21st Century. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 34, 1–2 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-024-00639-0

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Environmental Protection Agency. 2026 Chemicals, Pesticides and Toxics Topics. Chemicals, Pesticides and Toxics Topics | US EPA

Hazardous/Toxic Air Pollutants, Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), Lead, Pesticide Chemicals, Glyphosate, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs).

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Environmental Protection Agency. 2026. Databases: ChemView, Comptox Chemicals Dashboard, Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), Pesticide Chemical Search, Substance Registry Service (SRS), TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory.

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Gour N, Ortiz L and Maibach E (2026) Health implications of the rapid rise of data centers in Virginia: an exploratory assessment. Front. Clim. 8:1648912. doi: 10.3389/fclim.2026.1648912

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Han, Y., Wu, Z., Li, P. Wierman, A., & Ren, S. (2026). Health-informed computing: Estimating and addressing the public health impact of data centers. ARIV. https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.06288

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Hardin, A. (2026). Data centers are contributing to PFAS forever chemical pollution. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-are-contributing-to-pfas-forever-chemical-pollution

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Hao Zhang, Bin Zhao, Yinan Song, Yang Yang, Linying Cai, Qiuci Miao, Tian Jiang. (2025). Soil contamination in contaminated sites with key standards: A global analysis and perspective. Journal of Hazardous Materials, Volume 494,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.138724.

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Jiang, X., Kirsten, K. L., & Qadeer, A. (2025). Contaminants in the Water Environment: Significance from the Perspective of the Global Environment and Health. Water, 17(9), 1257. https://doi.org/10.3390/w17091257

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Lin L, Yang H and Xu X (2022) Effects of Water Pollution on Human Health and Disease Heterogeneity: A Review. Front. Environ. Sci. 10:880246. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2022.880246

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Meera Rajan, D. Karunanidhi, J. Jaya, B. Preethi, T. Subramani, P. Aravinthasamy. (2024). A comprehensive review on human health hazards due to groundwater contamination: A global perspective. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C, Volume 135,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2024.103637.

 

Moulinec, A., Arle, J., Hollert, H. et al. Assessing chemical pollution with biomonitoring approaches in streams and rivers: a critical review. Environ Sci Eur 37, 69 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-025-01110-z

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National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 2026. NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/default.html

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Nutt, D. (2025). "Roadmap" shows the environmental impact of AI data center boom. Cornell Chronicle.  https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/11/roadmap-shows-environmental-impact-ai-data-center-boom

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P.S. Nishmitha, Kochuparambil Ajayaghosh Akhilghosh, Vijayalekshmi Padmachandran Aiswriya, Athira Ramesh, Muthukumar Muthuchamy, Anbazhagi Muthukumar. Understanding emerging contaminants in water and wastewater: A comprehensive review on detection, impacts, and solutions. Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances, Volume 18, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hazadv.2025.100755.

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Ravi Naidu, Bhabananda Biswas, Ian R. Willett, Julian Cribb, Brajesh Kumar Singh, C. Paul Nathanail, Frederic Coulon, Kirk T. Semple, Kevin C. Jones, Adam Barclay, Robert John Aitken, Chemical pollution: A growing peril and potential catastrophic risk to humanity,
Environment International, Volume 156, 2021, 106616, ISSN 0160-4120, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2021.106616.
 

Ren, S. & Wierman, A. (2025). Mitigating the public health impacts of AI data centers. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2025/11/mitigating-the-public-health-impacts-of-ai-data-centers

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United States Armed Forces Doctrine for Chemical Warfare and Biological Defense. 1995. bits.de/NRANEU/others/amd-us-archive/FM101-40%2876%29.pdf

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Xiao, T., Nerini, F.F., Matthews, H.D. et al. Environmental impact and net-zero pathways for sustainable artificial intelligence servers in the USA. Nat Sustain 8, 1541–1553 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01681-y

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Yu Tao, Peng Gao. (2025). Global data center expansion and human health: A call for empirical research. Eco-Environment & Health,
Volume 4, Issue 3, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100157.

 

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The Same Symptons as the Primary Illness Zone only taking longer to occur!

 

471 Families live in the Secondary Illness Zone

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17 Businesses operate in the Secondary Illness Zone

   Okmulgee Water Treatment Plant (Most of the county's drinking water comes from here)

   Bios Corporation

   Casey's 

   Lake Road Landing RV Park & Storage

   Power Substation

   Jack's Towing

   Okmulgee American Legion Post 10

   3 At Hair & Company

   Liberty Partners

   Arborstone Storage Okmulgee

   Westside RV Park & Storage

   Son's Automotive Repair

   Phillips Truck & Auto Repair

   Dlubak Glass Company

   Morris Heat & Air Company

   Thompson Pump Company

   Skyline Fireworks

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6 Churches

   Assembly of God North Side

   World Outreach Church

   Okmulgee First Free Will Baptist Church

   Fundamental Baptist Church

   Jesus is Lord Apostolic Church

   The Refuge Church

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Studies indicate that while symptoms in this zone are comparable to the primary impact area, the distance provides a buffer that delays the onset of respiratory and cognitive health issues.

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Percentage of the City of Okmulgee in both the Primary and Secondary Illness Zone

Homes in the City of Okmulgee       5,425

Homes in Primary Illness Zone              140

Homes in Secondary Illness Zone        471

Total Homes affected                               611

Percentage of Homes affected                11%             

 

Businesses in the City of Okmulgee          472

Businesses in Primary Illness Zone                10

Businesses in Secondary Illness Zone          17

Total Businesses affected                                27

Percentage of Businesses affected               6%

 

Churches in the City of Okmulgee              40

Churches in Secondary Illness Zone             5

Percentage of Churches affected               13%

 

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